BUSINESS NEWS - POWER EQUIPMENT APPOINTS NEW MAN FOR THE WEST AND THE TOP END
Yanmar engine distributor, Power Equipment, has announced the appointment of Paul Edwards to the position of Marine Sales Manager WA/NT.
Power Equipment said Edwards comes to Yanmar with an impressive track record with marine propulsion systems and replaces Brian Macken.
Power Equipment’s new Auckland subsidiary Whiting Power Systems (WPS) was recently appointed as the official Yanmar Distributor in NZ and, in his new capacity, Macken will be overseeing Yanmar Marine sales across the country.
Before joining Power Equipment, Edwards had previously worked as the Marine Sales Manager with marine-engine supplier Sea Power in Western Australia, also an authorised Yanmar dealer.
“Thanks to my past position at Sea Power, I am well familiar with the Yanmar products and the strength of the Yanmar brand,” said Edwards.
“At Sea Power I helped customers with their marine propulsion requirements. My role was to ensure that customers had the most appropriate engine for their needs.
“So I was measuring up enginerooms to be certain that the selected engine would fit, to be sure that the power was right for the vessel and then once the fitup was complete, I was involved in sea trials to see that everything was operating as specified,” he said.
Edwards’ new role is not too far removed from his previous position, one which he served in for almost seven years, said Power Equipment.
“The main difference at Power Equipment is that I only deal in Yanmar engines and now have responsibility for WA plus the Northern Territory.
“Dealer development together with growing the Mase Generator and Gori Propeller product range are key parts of my role.
“The market that we service is not a volume market segment; every application is almost a custom job, which makes our work interesting and varied,” he said.
Power Equipment said that after a relatively short time in the position, Edwards has already noticed how well the Yanmar brand is accepted by the market and its popularity in the repower sector.
“The brand is really strong and customers don’t need to be told much about the brand at all,” said Edwards.
“My job is to ensure that customers have access to the most appropriate Yanmar engine for their boat, whether new or a repower,” he said.
Edwards has a broad role that involves sales support, dealer support, liaison with shipyards and an involvement with naval architects to ensure that appropriate Yanmar engines are used to power new and vessels undergoing repower, Power Equipment said.
According to Michael Blair, the National Marine Sales Manager for Power Equipment, having Edwards join the WA state office is a coup for the company and customers alike.
“Across the country we are very fortunate to have experienced and very competent sales application engineers assisting our clients and I have absolutely no doubt that Paul will further complement this part of our business.
“Paul comes to us with a high level of industry knowledge, experience with our customer base and an appreciation of the task at hand,” Blair said.
The Yanmar range of marine diesel engines covers both the pleasurecraft and heavy-duty commercial marine sectors. The purpose-built Yanmar marine engine range covers many variants ranging from the pleasurecraft single-cylinder 1GM10 (9hp) thru to the 20-litre 6AY-GTE (911hp) commercial engine range.
Power Equipment is the exclusive and authorised Australian, NZ, PNG and South Pacific distributor of Yanmar Marine and Industrial diesel engines importing product from Yanmar plants in Japan, Asia, USA and Europe. Power Equipment is also the authorised distributor of JCB DieselMax engines for both Australia and New Zealand. Power Equipment distributes the Yanmar powered MASE diesel marine generators range and Gori high quality folding sailboat propellers.
Photo: Paul Edwards.